


Bouquet

by izurus



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Danganronpa 2
Genre: Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Despair, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 19:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11835480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izurus/pseuds/izurus
Summary: Flowers might seem like a strange thing to bring a friend on their birthday, but Hinata and Komaeda are more than friends, right?





	Bouquet

**Author's Note:**

> Set in some sort of post-game AU where the world is being rebuilt after the apocalypse, and the students are living in society with a certain degree of normality. DR3 doesn't exist.

The dial tone sounded four times before Souda picked up the phone.

“Yeah?” he answered.

“Hey,” Hinata replied, cell phone against his ear. “Um, I have kind of a weird question.”

“What kinda weird?”

“Well… you know today is Komaeda’s birthday, right?”

There was static on the line for a moment.

“Oh,” said Souda after the pause. “Okay. So, uh, you gonna visit him?”

“Yeah,” said Hinata. “But I don’t know what to wear.”

Souda laughed. “You’re askin’ me?” he said, incredulously. Hinata rolled his eyes, then realized that the mechanic couldn’t see him.

“I can’t really ask one of the girls, can I?” he retorted. “And I tried calling Kuzuryuu but he told me to ‘fuck off, he’s busy.’”

“Busy, my ass,” Souda replied. “Anyway, doesn’t really matter what you wear, right? I mean, I don’t think Komaeda would care.”

“Haha, yeah. Pretty notorious for his fashion sense, I guess.” Hinata frowned. “But, uh, a white button-up shirt and slacks should be fine, right?”

“White button-up?”

“Oh, do you think it would be too...?” He trailed off. Too what?

“I dunno, man. Whatever you want.”

“Okay. Well, thanks.”

“See ya!”

“Bye.”

Hinata ended the call, setting his phone down on the nightstand. He tugged off his T-shirt and grabbed a black shirt from the drawer, fastening the buttons one by one. Pulling on a pair of slacks, he picked up his phone again, slipping it into his back pocket. Just as he was about to leave, though, the phone vibrated once. He pulled it out again.

“Yeah?” he answered, after seeing Souda’s face on the caller ID.

“Uh…” he trailed off.

“What is it?” Hinata prompted.

“Just… tell ‘im I said hi, okay?”

Before Hinata could get in another word, Souda hung up the phone.

 

\-------

 

The door to the florist’s shop jingled as he entered.

“Hello, and welcome to— oh, Hinata-san!” Sonia greeted him cheerfully, a bouquet of flowers in her hand. The man waiting at the counter glanced back at Hinata, then turned away again, disinterested.

“Hi, Sonia,” he said, standing in the middle of the room. There was very little floor space, and every available surface seemed to be covered in plants. Sonia ducked her head to grab something under the counter, then pulled out a ribbon and started wrapping it around the flowers with practiced efficiency.

“Just a moment, alright?” she called. “I am completing an order, so please look around! I apologize for the delay most sincerely.”

“No, it’s fine, I can wait.” He gave her a halfhearted smile and shifted from foot to foot, studying the different flowers in the store. It was a small shop, but well-lit and cheerful; an island of calm in the still-rebuilding neighborhood. The roses were on sale, according to a small sign under a bouquet of dark red flowers to the right. Next to them were violets and a discouraged-looking bunch of daisies. To the left were lilies, orchids, and some more exotic flowers whose hastily-scribbled labels he could hardly read.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he heard the man saying at the counter. “She likes red ones too, it’s okay if you’re out of pink.”

“Oh, so these roses are for your wife?” Sonia asked, eyes widening.

“Girlfriend,” he corrected, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, hopefully fiancée soon. But the company I worked at was destroyed in the, uh, the tragedy, so things are still a little rocky for us. We’ll see, I guess.”

“Oh, I see,” she replied without a trace of hesitation. “Many are in a similar situation, I’m afraid. Well, here is your bouquet. I wish you the best of luck together!”

The bells jingled again as he walked out, leaving Hinata as the only customer. Sonia leaned over the counter towards him.

“It’s rare of you to visit, is it not?” she said, smiling. “What is the occasion?”

“Uh, I thought I’d get something for him. As a birthday present,” he added. “I mean, Komaeda. It’s his birthday.” _Nice going._

“Komaeda-san, hm? Well, I’m sure he would be most pleased with anything you decided to bring for him.”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to get, you know, something weird.”

“No roses?” she teased. Hinata resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Well, perhaps something on the other side of the store would be more appropriate.”

Sonia walked out from behind the counter and gestured Hinata over to the left of the store, where the less colorful bunches were. He scanned the displays. The lilies caught his eye, creamy white with a tinge of warm color in the center. An image of stark white hair with the barest hint of red flashed in his mind.

“Maybe these…?” Hinata gestured vaguely towards the lilies. Sonia raised her eyebrows.

“An interesting choice,” she commented. Hinata winced inwardly. “I have no doubt he would appreciate them, though! How many would you like?”

“Uh, just half a dozen is good.”

“Certainly!” Sonia picked out six flowers and brought them back over to the counter, wrapping them in cellophane and pulling out a drawer full of ribbon.

“Any preference for color?” she asked. Hinata shrugged. She picked up a spool of dark ribbon and tied it deftly around the bouquet. He searched around in his pocket for cash and counted it out, handing it to Sonia across the counter.

“I remember that once he told me he loved beautiful things,” she mused as she gave him the bouquet. “Komaeda-san has always had a very unique protective on life, has he not?”

“I think you mean perspective,” Hinata corrected. She laughed.

“And still my Japanese is flawed, after all these years!” she said. “Well, please wish Komaeda-san a happy birthday. Goodbye!”

“Bye, Sonia,” he called as he left the shop.

The bells jingled behind him as the door swung closed.

 

\-------

 

Flowers in hand, Hinata made his way down the street, deep in thought. What would he say? _Hi, just figured I would stop by, here are some flowers. And happy birthday._ No, being casual wouldn’t work. _Happy birthday, I know we don’t talk much anymore but I forgive you for the shit you did, please take these flowers, also Sonia and Souda said hi…_ no, still too weird.

Everything was too hard to say, too difficult to express to the boy—young man? None of them were seventeen anymore, after all—whom he had met in that simulation years ago. Komaeda had driven his classmates to murder, arranged his own death, committed unspeakable crimes that not one of them could really claim to be innocent of, and still treasured hope above everything else. And even after everything had happened, here he was, going to visit Komaeda on his birthday to say...to say what? I forgive you? I wish we could be friends again?

_Please don’t ever forget…_

No, that was too painful to think about.

_That I love…_

Hinata would just tell him happy birthday, he decided. He would give him the flowers and say, happy birthday, I hope everything is going well with you, sorry for not talking to you earlier. Then he would leave, and that would be it.

_I love the hope sleeping inside of you from the bottom of my heart._

He reached the gate and opened it slowly, the rusty metal hinges creaking as he entered. The grass was slightly withered under his feet, and the dirt was soft from recent rain.

It took a while to find the right one. Eventually he did, though, and he stood there at a loss, still unsure of what he should say.

“Hey, uh… happy birthday,” he started. The cool breeze made him shiver. “I know you like pretty things, so I got you some flowers. I hope you like them.”

He placed the lilies, very gently, in front of the gravestone.

“I know I should’ve visited you before, but… um, well, Sonia and Souda said happy birthday. Nanami probably would have too, if she could. I hope everything’s okay wherever you are.” He turned to leave, but a sudden gust of wind made him hesitate for a second. The rustling of leaves sounded all too familiar, all too much like raspy, nervous laughter.

“Fuck, I don’t know, I’m sorry, I just…” Hinata lifted a hand to rub the wetness from his eyes. Since when had he been crying?

“Komaeda… I’ll see you later, I guess.”

He left too early to see the lily petals scatter in the laughing wind.

**Author's Note:**

> This probably isn't nearly as clever as I thought it was when I wrote it in 2015


End file.
